Syria leader vows to protect Druze after sectarian violence prompts Israeli strikes

Ahmed al-Sharaa spoke after Israel said it would destroy government forces it accused of attacking Druze in Syria.

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In his first televised statement since Israel's air strikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Ahmed al-Sharaa also warned that Syrians were not afraid of war.

Syrian state media reported that the military was withdrawing from Suweida under a ceasefire agreement with Druze leaders. But it is not clear whether that will hold.

More than 350 people are reported to have been killed since sectarian clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes erupted in the province on Sunday.

The government responded by deploying its forces to the predominantly Druze city of Suweida for the first time since Sharaa's Sunni Islamist group led the rebel offensive that overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December, ending 13 years of civil war.